Stanley Black & Decker is closing its last manufacturing facility in New Britain, which will result in 300 workers losing their jobs.
The facility makes single-sided tape measures, and those products are becoming obsolete, according to the company, whose headquarters remain in New Britain. Electronic devices use lasers to measure distance, and some cellphones can measure distance.
Stanley says it will offer jobs at other locations to employees whose work has been eliminated.
“We are focused on supporting impacted employees through this transition, including providing options for employment at other facilities, severance, and job placement support services for both salaried and hourly employees,” company spokesperson Debora Raymond said in a statement.
In recent years, Stanley has been reducing its workforce and closing some locations as it cuts costs. The company is also contending with President Trump’s tariffs, which have prompted price increases on its products made overseas.
A machinists union said Friday that it's disappointed that workers are losing their jobs.
Leaders of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said the move "will devastate hundreds of hardworking IAM Local 1433 members and the broader community that has supported this company for generations."
Elected officials say the news stings.
"It's a sad day for New Britain. Stanley Works has a long history here and slowly but surely its presence has been eroded," State Rep. Dave DeFronzo, a Democrat who represents New Britain, told NBC Connecticut.
Mayor Bobby Sanchez, a Democrat, said in a statement that the news was "disappointing," but pointed to the president's tariffs.
“This decision reflects broader instability in the national and global economic environment," Sanchez said, the Hartford Courant reported.
Former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart, a Republican who is running for governor, called it a "very sad day" for the city.
"How many times are we going to run through the litany of reasons these legacy employers — who have been part of our identity as Nutmeggers — are choosing to leave Connecticut," Stewart said in a statement. "There’s only so long any enterprise can exist with the highest cost of living, the highest cost of energy, the highest cost of doing business, and utter hostility from the state capitol before they have to make the heartbreaking decision to leave or close their doors."
